Last season was a great season for basketball programs from the great state of Tennessee. You had Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and East Tennessee State all make the NCAA Tournament.
Their most likely won't be that many team representing Tennessee this season, but there's still two teams that could do damage and that's No.19 Vanderbilt and No. 18 Tennessee.
In no way do I agree with Tennessee currently being ranked ahead of Vanderbilt in the rankings. Vandy has beaten them twice this season, including a double-digit win just a week ago.
Joe Lunardi is the expert when it comes to the science of bracketology and currently he has Vanderbilt as a No.4 seed and Tennessee as a No.5 seed.
I believe both seeds are a little generous considering the SEC is very weak once again. Vandy deserves no higher than a No. 5 seed thanks to some questionable losses against Cincinnati, Illinois, and Georgia.
Tennessee on the other hand should be no higher than No.7 seed as of right now. They've faired even worse in the SEC and their only impressive win of the season was against No.1 Kansas. Without that huge upset win then Tennessee would be even farther back for me.
The only other team representing the state right now in Lunardi's bracket is Belmont out of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Belmont always has a respectable program and many of you probably remember when they gave Duke that scare just a few years ago. Sadly enough they'll be another sacrificial lamb to the likes of Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, etc.
You can't ever count Memphis out of the equation. They still have time to build on their resume with their current record sitting at 19-7. After looking over their remaining schedule it's very likely they could win-out the rest of the way and get into the field of 65.
Out of all of these teams Vanderbilt has the best shot at making a run in the tournament. They're balanced and well-coached. A Sweet 16 berth is probably the most you can realistically hope for, but in college basketball the impossible sometimes happens.
Current Resume's
- Vanderbilt ( #5) Key Wins: Tennessee twice, @St. Mary's, Missouri
- Tennessee (#7) Key Wins: Kansas, @Memphis
- Memphis (#13) Key Wins: @Tulsa
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